Mother Thought She Had the Flu. She Eventually Learned the Truth and Was Left Unable to Walk for 2 Years

need to know

• Vicki Purdey, from Dorset, UK, was diagnosed with a life-changing illness after flu-like symptoms worsened

• “I felt worse for a few days and thankfully my mum was there to call an ambulance,” she recalled

• Purdy, 37, is now wheelchair-bound and suffers from brain fog and frequent eye spasms

A mother is struggling to regain her mobility after being left unable to walk due to flu-like symptoms.

Vicki Purdey, a mother-of-two from Dorset, England, was “well” before developing symptoms in March 2024, including fever, severe headaches, muscle aches and light sensitivity. Purdy, 37, recalled in an interview with SWNS news agency that before her life-changing diagnosis, she thought she just had a “seasonal illness.”

It wasn’t until her mum Julie, 75, noticed she started vomiting and slurring her speech that she called the UK’s emergency number 999.

“I’m healthy and in the prime of my life,” Purdy told SWNS. “So when I first felt sick, I thought it was just the flu.”

She continued, “I remember waking up with a headache and some aches but not thinking much of it. I honestly thought it was just the flu and the symptoms would subside. But a few days later I felt worse and thankfully my mum was there to call an ambulance.”

On 1 April that year, Purdy was admitted to Poole Hospital after being unable to bring his chin to his chest when questioned by doctors. A series of tests and a lumbar puncture later confirmed she had viral meningitis.

“At the hospital, I was given antibiotics because my body was kind of shutting down,” Purdy recalled, according to SWNS. “But when I heard about meningitis, those words hit me like a train.”

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While in hospital, Purdy said her body was showing “some signs” that she had not yet fully recovered.

“I remember walking to the bathroom, but I lost the coordination of my walking,” she said. ‘This is the weirdest thing, doctors think it’s because of me [kept] I lay in bed for a long time. “

“On top of that, I also had short-term memory loss and for a while I couldn’t recognize my neighbors,” Purdy added.

The mother was discharged from the hospital a week later, but was readmitted to the hospital on April 15 with recurrent meningitis. She discovered that the disease had affected the neural pathways in her brain so severely that she “lost most of the use” of her legs.

Further tests led to her being diagnosed with a functional neurological disorder (FND). The disease, caused by meningitis, can cause problems with sending and receiving signals to the brain, leading to a range of problems such as loss of sensation and touch in the body.

Purdy believes she may have contracted the disease a week before she was diagnosed.

“My son wasn’t feeling well and I was sitting in the emergency room,” she said of her 6-year-old son, Freddy. “That seemed to be the only place I would be exposed and my symptoms started to show up pretty quickly.”

Purdy’s second hospitalization lasted four days. She was told it could take several weeks for her mobility to return. However, two years later, she can only rely on a wheelchair to get around.

“I basically lost feeling from the waist down and my independence was severely compromised,” Purdy said, according to SWNS. He added that it was “incredibly isolating.”

“I never thought it could be meningitis,” Purdy added. “Many people think this is a disease that only affects babies and teenagers, but this is not the case.

“It brought me almost to the point of death, and now sometimes I’m not able to be the mother or wife that I want to be,” she continued. “FND affects my coordination and ability to walk and requires more awareness and resources.”

Purdy regularly participates in physical therapy and exercises to improve her mobility. According to SWNS, her acetabulum rotated her upper body 180 degrees “from back to front.” She also suffers from brain fog and eye spasms about 20 times a day as a result of her FND diagnosis.

“I still have little feeling in my legs and am wheelchair-bound,” Purdy said. “I occasionally have flare-ups, which means I need to relearn how to walk in a new way each time. It’s a battle, but I’m learning more about myself and the support from friends and family has been great.”

The mother said despite the increasing number of people living with the condition, resources for people with FND remain “limited”.

“I’ve been through real shit the past few years and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” Purdy told SWNS. “Despite my best efforts to recover. I don’t think I will ever recover, but I hope my story can help others learn more about the symptoms of meningitis and FND.”

“You are not alone,” she concluded.

Read the original article on People